WSU institutes flexible summer scheduling

In an attempt to reduce energy consumption and to help employees facing high commuting costs, WSU is encouraging its managers to approve work schedules of four 10-hour days for faculty and staff members during the summer season.

President Elson S. Floyd announced the change Tuesday, May 13. It will go into effect May 19 and run through Aug. 15. It will apply to all WSU campuses, extension and research centers around the state. The university employs about 6,000 faculty and staff statewide.
“As an institution, we need to do what we can to cut energy demand. We also believe this is an important benefit to offer employees, especially those who commute considerable distances to work,” Floyd said.

 

He said the priority will remain on getting the job done and keeping offices open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. But in departments where those goals can be met with employees working flexible schedules, he encouraged managers to offer that option.

 

Individual managers will decide whether the 4×10 schedule works for their departments and which employees could fulfill their responsibilities by working that schedule. The schedule could be offered to some employees for part of the summer or rotated among employees in a department, based on the judgment of individual managers.

 

Complete information about the policy is available at http://www.hrs.wsu.edu/Flexible+Scheduling

 

Provost and Executive Vice President Robert Bates said he discussed the change with leaders of the Faculty Senate and the Administrative Professional Advisory Council and they were supportive.

 

Some departments at WSU, especially those dealing with facilities maintenance and public safety, already offer 4×10 scheduling year-round. University officials will look at the experience of this summer before deciding whether the schedule could be instituted year-round in more departments.